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Social Media Best Practices for Pet Care Professionals

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Social media can help your pet care business in various ways—it provides additional visibility, credibility, and resources for your business. Expanding your business’ social media presence will pay off in the long run, and show your customers that you’ve taken time to really invest in your business. Social media helps you get more traffic to your website by making people aware of your business and services provided. It also provides a way for customers to engage with your business and see photos of what you offer. Today we’ll cover social media marketing in the pet business, which platforms to use, and what type of content you should post depending on your profession.

Social Media Platforms

There are several different social media platforms that you can choose from as a pet professional—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok, just to name a few. Each platform has its advantages and disadvantages, so you can decide which platform best suits your business and your audience.

Facebook

We’re all familiar with Facebook, but Facebook isn’t just good for your personal account—there’s also an option to set up business pages. According to Facebook, creating a business page allows “the more than 2 billion people on Facebook to discover your business.” The greatest part about setting up your business page is that it’s free!

Creating a business account takes just a few minutes; you’ll need your business name and description, profile and cover photos, and a call to action. Not only does having a Facebook business page allow you to find more customers online, it gives you the opportunity to connect with your customers and post engaging content so that they come back to your business page wanting more.

Don’t be afraid to use Facebook ads. Facebook ads allow you to reach a broader audience and get more visibility for your business. Ads get more traffic to your business Facebook page by running campaigns and using the simple tools provided. Learn about which types of ads perform best on Facebook’s platforms.

Instagram

Like Facebook, you can create an Instagram business account, which is a very beneficial digital marketing tool for pet businesses. Setting up your account is very easy—just provide a profile picture and make sure that you switch to a Professional Account and choose Business in the settings menu. After this, you’ll be able to add in relevant business information, like your email, business address, or phone number.

Instagram is the ideal platform if you’re looking to really engage with your customers. If you have several photos and videos to share, this is the place. You can post on your page a couple times a week, post stories daily if you’d like, create reels, do Instagram Live videos, and so much more.

The greatest perk about having an Instagram business account is that they provide analytics, also called Instagram Insights, on your account and your posts. This means you’ll be able to see who your main audience is, including their age, gender, and location. This will help you tailor your posts toward your audience.

You can also see your top-performing posts and when they were posted. For example, if you see that your most successful posts are pet grooming tutorial reels, you’ll want to make more of those for your feed. Or if you see that your posts with the most likes and engagement were posted on the weekend, you should plan more weekend posts.

An Instagram business account also allows you to take advantage of sponsored posts. This means that you can select the audience you’re trying to reach and how long you’d like your sponsored posts to run. For example, if you’re trying to reach females in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, and want the post to run for 5 days (Instagram’s recommended minimum amount of time), you can curate a post for just that. Take a look here to learn more about sponsored posts.

LinkedIn

You may be familiar with LinkedIn if you already have a personal account, but they also provide business profiles. Linkedin is an intuitive platform that gives you the opportunity to share your business and services, explain the benefits of your business, and link to your website. Many users utilize Linkedin to share useful content to their audience and connect with fellow pet professionals. You never know what kind of advice or connections you’ll get unless you put your business out there.

Like the other platforms, LinkedIn shows you your follower demographics, trending content with your target audience, and other analytics that you can use to improve your social media presence on LinkedIn. Don’t be afraid to tag other pet care professionals in your posts, use hashtags, share stories, and post on your feed regularly.

dog running through a field

Social Media Best Practices for Pet Businesses

Pet Groomers

There are several social media tips for pet grooming. For starters, people love before and after photos. You can take cute before and after posts of your furry friends and share them on whichever platform you’re using the most. If you’re feeling up to it, you can film snippets of how you get your clients looking so clean and well-groomed or provide your client’s tips for maintaining things at home between appointments. For more tips on social media marketing for pet groomers, check out this blog.

Pet Sitters and Dog Walkers

A common use of social media for pet sitters and dog walkers is posting photos and videos of the pets that are in your care. The best platforms for this would be Instagram and Facebook. Instagram is the most ideal platform for displaying images of your work. Make sure that you have permission from your customers before posting any content of their pets.

You can also establish yourself as a resource for your followers that have any questions about pets in general, or pet sitting and dog walking. You can share your tricks of the trade by creating a weekly post where you share tips—like how to keep a pet happy while their owner is away. Share your knowledge to increase your following. If you’d like more ideas, take a look at this helpful blog.

Dog Training

Dog training is not the easiest pet profession. However, you can get creative with how to display your dog training business on social media. One great thing to promote, is how easy it is to book an appointment with you! Be upfront with how easily this can be done and your pricing. Consider using the reels feature on Instagram to show appealing content on your page. You can share tips on how to get a puppy to sit, among other tricks. Social media for dog training can help your business and can help you showcase your work to get new customers.

Social Media Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

We hope the above information is helpful for your business in developing a social media plan and presence. Our best suggestions are to select which platform(s) would work best for your business and tailor your content based on your audience and what your business goals are. You should also consider strategizing your content and doing some more research, so that you can develop a social media plan that will be effective for your time and effort. Start your social media today to help your business thrive.

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  • 1) No Purchase Necessary:

    No purchase is necessary to enter or win the contest. Purchasing will not increase your chances of winning the contest.

  • 2) Eligibility:

    The contest is open to legal United States residents who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. The contest is only open to those who follow the instructions and enter their name and email address on the website landing page

    https://www.petcareins.com/groomer-to-groomer Employees of Pet Care Insurance, their respective affiliates, contractors, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and partners, suppliers and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate in the contest. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited.

  • 3) Agreement To Rules:

    By participating, you agree to be fully unconditionally bound by these rules, and you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements set forth herein. In addition, you agree to accept the decisions of Pet Care Insurance (PCI), as final and binding as it relates to the content. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

  • 4) Contest Period:

    Entries will be accepted online starting on or about November 23, 2018 and ending 10:30 AM MST on December 3, 2018. All online entries must be received by December 3, 2018 10:30 AM MST. There will be one winner.

  • 5) How To Enter:

    To enter the contest, one must enter their first name, last name, and email address into the contact form located exclusively on https://www.petcareins.com/groomer-to-groomer. You may enter only once. You may not enter more times than indicated by using multiple email addresses, identities, or devices in an attempt to circumvent the rules. If you use fraudulent methods or otherwise attempt to circumvent the rules, your submission may be removed from eligibility at the sole discretion of Pet Care Insurance (PCI). All disputes will be resolved at the sole discretion of Pet Care Insurance (PCI). In the event the entry collection mechanism suffers a technical failure, Sponsor may elect to randomly select another email subscriber to designate the winner of this giveaway. [Note: If you would like to remove yourself from consideration for this giveaway, please email Pet Care Insurance (PCI) at marketing1@petcareins.com with the subject line “Opt-Out – Attn: Ryan Muir”]

  • 6) Prize:

    here will be 1 (one) winner who will receive 1 (one) Amazon Gift Card. The Approximate retail price of the Amazon Gift Card is = $100 USD. At the discretion of PCI, the gift card may be delivered either electronically or by means of free standard shipping to the United States.PCI reserves the right to substitute an item of equal or greater value if any items listed above are out of stock or otherwise unavailable. Actual/appraised value may differ at the time of prize award. The specifics of the prize shall be solely determined by the Sponsor. No cash or other prize substitution permitted except at Sponsor’s discretion. The prize is non-transferable. Any and all prize related expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the winner. No substitution of a prize or transfer/assignment of a prize to others or request for the cash equivalent by winners is permitted. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for PCI to use winner’s name, likeness, and entry for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

  • 7) Odds:

    The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. One entry per person/email address.

  • 8) Winner Selection And Notification:

    Winners of the contest will be selected based on content quality under the supervision of the Sponsor. Winner will be notified via message to the email address that they used or phone number they submitted to enter the contest within five (5) days following the winner selection. PCI shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 15 days of the time award notification was sent, or fails to timely return a completed and executed declaration and releases as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected.

    The receipt by winner of the prize offered in this contest is conditioned upon compliance with any and all federal and state laws and regulations. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES BY ANY WINNER (AT SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN SUCH WINNER’S DISQUALIFICATION AS WINNER OF THE CONTEST AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

  • 9) Rights Granted By You:

    By entering this contest you understand that Pet Care Insurance, anyone acting on behalf of Pet Care Insurance, or its respective licensees, successors and assigns will have the right, where permitted by law, without any further notice, review, or consent to print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use, worldwide in any media now known or hereafter in perpetuity and throughout the World, your entry, including, without limitation, the entry and winner’s name, portrait, picture, voice, likeness, image or statements about the contest, and biographical information as news, publicity or information and for trade, advertising, public relations and promotional purposes without any further compensation.

  • 10) Terms:

    Pet Care Insurance reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest should (in its sole discretion) a virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the contest. In such case, Pet Care Insurance may select the recipients from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Pet Care Insurance. Pet Care Insurance reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the contest or website or violates these Terms & Conditions.

    Pet Care Insurance has the right, in its sole discretion, to maintain the integrity of the contest, to void votes for any reason, including, but not limited to; multiple entries from the same user from different IP addresses; multiple entries from the same computer in excess of that allowed by contest rules; or the use of bots, macros or scripts or other technical means for entering. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Pet Care Insurance reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.

By entering the contest you agree to receive emails periodically from Pet Care Insurance and to receive a phone call from Pet Care Insurance. You can opt-out of receiving this communication at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the email.

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    By entering you agree to release and hold harmless Pet Care Insurance and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i) such entrant’s participation in the contest and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Promotion or the processing of entries.

  • 2) Disputes:

    THIS CONTEST IS GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF The United States of America AND California, WITHOUT RESPECT TO CONFLICT OF LAW DOCTRINES. As a condition of participating in this contest, participant agrees that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in Utah County, Utah, USA having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering this contest), and participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

  • 3) Privacy Policy.

    Information submitted with an entry is subject to the privacy policy stated on the Pet Care Insurance website.

  • 4) Winners List:

    To obtain a copy of the winner’s name or a copy of these Official Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

    Pet Care Insurance

    c/o: Marketing Department

    260 South 2500 West Suite #303

    Pleasant Grove, UT 84062

    Requests must be received no later than December 3, 2019.

  • 5) Sponsor:

    The Sponsor of the contest is:

    Pet Care Insurance

    260 South 2500 West Suite #303

    Pleasant Grove, UT 84062

  • 6)

    This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter, or any other Social Network. You are providing your information to PCI and not to any other party.

Comparing Employee Dishonesty Coverage & Bonding

PCI’s employee dishonesty coverage is similar to a bond, but there may be some key differences to consider.

Employee dishonesty coverage:

  • Can be purchased in the same transaction
  • Doesn’t run credit checks
  • Provides $10,000 per occurrence and $25,000 aggregate coverage

Bonds may differ from our dishonesty coverage by:

  • Checking your credit during the application process
  • Having a “Conviction Claus;” Often bonds won’t pay on claims unless there is a conviction
  • Many require you to reimbursement the bonding company after a claim is paid